So then He has mercy on whom He desires, and He hardens whom He desires.
Parallel translations
- WEB So then, he has mercy on whom he desires, and he hardens whom he desires.
- KJV Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth.
- BSB Therefore God has mercy on whom He wants to have mercy, and He hardens whom He wants to harden.
- NKJV Therefore He has mercy on whom He wills, and whom He wills He hardens.
- NLT So you see, God chooses to show mercy to some, and he chooses to harden the hearts of others so they refuse to listen.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
God shows mercy to whomever he wills and hardens whomever he wills. Both mercy and judgment lie within his sovereign freedom.
Overview
Paul summarizes vv. 15-17: God freely shows mercy (as to Israel) and hardens (as with Pharaoh) according to his will. Faithful Christians note that Scripture also speaks of Pharaoh hardening his own heart, so God's hardening is a just judicial response that does not excuse human sin. The verse upholds God's sovereignty over both salvation and judgment while leaving human responsibility intact, themes Paul develops further in the verses that follow.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 13
- Exod 4:21Yahweh said to Moses, “When you go back into Egypt, see that you do before Pharaoh all the wonders which I have put in your hand, but I will harden his heart and he will not let the people go.
- Josh 11:20For it was of Yahweh to harden their hearts, to come against Israel in battle, that he might utterly destroy them, that they might have no favor, but that he might destroy them, as Yahweh commanded Moses.
- Rom 9:15–16For he said to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.”
- Rom 11:7–8What then? That which Israel seeks for, that he didn’t obtain, but the chosen ones obtained it, and the rest were hardened.
- 2 Th 2:10–12and with all deception of wickedness for those who are being lost, because they didn’t receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
- Deut 2:30But Sihon king of Heshbon would not let us pass by him; for Yahweh your God hardened his spirit, and made his heart obstinate, that he might deliver him into your hand, as it is today.
- Rom 5:20–21The law came in besides, that the trespass might abound; but where sin abounded, grace abounded more exceedingly;
- Acts 28:26–28saying, ‘Go to this people, and say, in hearing, you will hear, but will in no way understand. In seeing, you will see, but will in no way perceive.
- Exod 7:13Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he didn’t listen to them; as Yahweh had spoken.
- Isa 63:17O Yahweh, why do you make us wander from your ways, and harden our heart from your fear? Return for your servants’ sake, the tribes of your inheritance.
- Rom 1:24–28Therefore God also gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to uncleanness, that their bodies should be dishonored among themselves,
- Matt 13:14–15In them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled, which says, ‘By hearing you will hear, and will in no way understand; Seeing you will see, and will in no way perceive:
- Eph 1:6to the praise of the glory of his grace, by which he freely gave us favor in the Beloved,
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Paul unfolds the gospel in full: Christ our righteousness received by faith, the second Adam in whom many are made righteous, in whose death and resurrection we are buried and raised.
How Romans 9:18 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.